You know them - you have to know them, at least here in America. They can be found in almost any strip mall, boutique area or shopping plaza you come across. For example, I was driving through the mountains of West Virginia the other day, and they had a Starbucks at a three store travel plaza. Of three stores, somehow Starbucks became a priority. I guess somehow a chilled mochiatto is equally as important as gasoline to some folks.
So, what do all four of these businesses have in common?
Each has taken a very simple, age-old product, and turned it booming business.
How? Good damned question. You can't imagine the think tanks behind each business were hugely creative. Think about it for a second - haven't bakeries and diners been around for the last 100 years? Who'd expect to make money selling coffee? Or doughnuts?
So there had to be a lot of smoke and mirrors between "let's sell coffee" and Starbucks, or "let's sell doughnuts" and Krispy Kreme. I mean, with the carb craze going on, watch all the people pour in and out of Panera like they've never seen a friggin' bakery before. Yes, the bread is fresh, and no, they're not pioneers.
But, these businesses are somewhat pioneers in the new craze, fruity specialty chains. They're specialty chains because they focus on one product, and fruity because of the upscale, elitist air that allows them to be more expensive then their older counterparts.
My Idea...
So, with this new craze of fruity specialty chains, I'm proposing a new chain for all the soccer moms and middle class families to flock to - a place where you can kick your Birkenstocks back and write hailkus on your iMac, while listening to the gentle sounds of the Dookenheim Orchestra.
Greenwich FunnelCakes. Yes, funnelcakes. Here's how to take lessons from the guys above to make Greenwich FunnelCakes a surefire hit.
First, I started off with the product. You ever go to a carnival and have a funnel cake? You like it? That's all it takes. Once it becomes "chic", everyone else will like it too.
For the name, I can't just use "Funnel Cakes", but it is important to make that the meat of the brand name. That way, once the product takes off, my mind-sticking logo will appear every time you think about funnel cakes.
To add to the name, I added "Greenwich". Why? It sounds fancy. Period. No connections with the community in New York or the GMT. It just sounds fancy. That's all you need. You can come up with a story later
Next, with the most important part of the business out of the way, the logo, all I'd need to do is create a store design that is modern, consistent, and full of Feng Shui touches so people feel like they can come in and escape from the drudges of the dirty underclass (this, of course, is steeped in sarcasm).
When each store opens, I'd invite jobless poets and artists from the nearest liberal arts college to lounge around thoughtfully, musing about existentialism and the ideas of Niche, while chewing on free funnelcakes (of course). This sets up a "creative" environment, and somehow, jobless artists really spruce up a new-age joint.
I'd create a low-carb funnelcake for all the power-walking moms and somehow advertise my elitist funnelcakes in pilates classes to draw in the healthy-looking crowd, a much needed part to any new-age bakery.
To be different, in addition to regular fountain drinks, I'll serve some weird Tibetan iced tea (AKA regular iced tea with grape juice), and make it a mainstay of my business. Come for the funnelcake, stay for the mystical, all-healthy Tibetan tea.
So, there you go. An instant hit. Take an old product, sell it like it's new, and with a touch of elitist style, the customers will come flocking.
The scary part is, this idea sounds way too plausible.
My Idea...